Member-only story
Bin Laden’s Foiled Plot to Kidnap Russell Crowe
The FBI told the Gladiator star of the suspected al-Qaeda terrorists who wanted to abduct him ahead of the Oscars.
A few months before Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his role as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, a group of FBI agents knocked on his hotel room door.
It was 2001, and the actor was shocked to find his LA hotel room filled with men in suits.
Men in suits was a sight that Crowe would get very used to, however… For the following two years, the actor’s security was an overwhelming FBI presence.
Crowe recalls attending the Golden Globes and other award ceremonies with up to 16 agents with him.
When the actor visited London to promote his movie, Proof of Life, the FBI even reached out to Scotland Yard for help. British detectives were dressed in dinner jackets and accompanied Crowe to his events.
This high level of protection continued during the filming of A Beautiful Mind and lessened a little for Master and Commander, with film sets featuring undercover agents at all times.
